Missing Persons

1993
Missing Persons

Seasons & Episodes

  • 1

EP1 Missing Persons Pilot (Part 1) Aug 30, 1993

Daniel J. Travanti plays Lt. Ray McAuliffe, the head of a diverse team of Chicago police officers specializing in missing persons. In the opener, Officer Bobby Davidson searches for a missing law student.

EP2 Missing Persons Pilot (Part 2) Aug 30, 1993

As we meet the characters, Johnny investigates a case of a little Polish girl snatched on a subway train, Carlos tries to find a 14 year old victim of sexual abuse, Bobby searches for a missing law student, and Connie gets frustrated because she isn't given any cases.

EP3 Cabe... What Kind of Name Is That? Sep 23, 1993

Carlos brings in photos of his newborn son. Bobby searches for the missing son of a Filipino lady, meanwhile a little boy is found who hasn't been reported missing.

EP4 People Don't Talk to Cops, People Lie to Cops Sep 30, 1993

A child is kidnapped from his back yard; an optometrist vanishes on his way home from work; and a young woman doesn't return from the grocery store.

EP5 I Can't Even Imagine Oct 07, 1993

A young woman returning from a European trip does not get off the plane; two teens do not make it home from a party; and a suicide note is found but no body.

EP6 That's My Sister, Pal Oct 14, 1993

Carlos and Connie search for a missing teen who has upset a drug lord.

EP7 The Man's an Emotional Termite Oct 28, 1993

A young woman's parents arrive for a visit and find her missing; a young girl is an apparent runaway; and an older man's entire family disappears.

EP8 Some People's Priorities... Nov 04, 1993

Missing dental hygienist's car is found with Black Magic books and items in the trunk, and her parents can't seem to decide whether or not they want to find her. A wife goes out for groceries and never comes back. Constance gets flowers.

EP9 I'm Gonna Miss Him, Too... Nov 11, 1993

A young boy runs away from home, returning to take his little brother with him, after his potential stepfather steals from their home and blames it on him, and then threatens his life. Connie has to trace the family of an heroic John Doe who saved a little girl's life, in order to find out what his medical problems are, and along the way feels some chemistry with the surgeon.

EP10 Sometimes You Can't Help Getting Involved... Nov 25, 1993

Connie and Carlos both have to find missing children. Connie's case is a 4-year old who disappeared at nursery school, and Carlos's is an 8-year old, who is later found badly beaten. When an ex-school friend of Ray's, who had been injured in an accident many years ago resulting in him have the mental age of a 6-year old, is accused of the beating, Ray breaks his own number 1 rule and becomes personally involved trying to clear him.

EP11 Right Neighborhood... Wrong Door Dec 02, 1993

Boy disappears in a grocery store. A rich accountant goes missing, and appears to have left the house in a hurry.

EP12 How Hard Is It Just to Get Off at the Next Exit? Dec 16, 1993

Boy missing for a year has been spotted. An express driver disappears. Johnny's dad, also a cop, gets shot. Robert gets an A on his mid-term.

EP13 If You Could Pick Your Own Parents... Jan 06, 1994

Elderly man missing, wife attempts suicide. Group plans a holiday party for the lieutenant. Jumper's body hasn't been found and no one's reported him missing. Boy reports his mom is missing.

EP14 I've Got a Siren!... Jan 13, 1994

Connie helps a girl who is having a baby and is missing her boyfriend, while Bobby meets an actress who models herself on Lauren Bacall and has driven her husband away with her constant role-playing games.

EP15 My Beautiful Son is O.K.... Jan 20, 1994

Johnny and Connie look for two little boys who went missing on their way home from school, while Bobby has the mysterious disappearance of a woman he met on a recent case on his hands. Carlos, Anita, Ray and Barbara spend the whole episode worrying about baby Carlito Ray who is sick.

EP16 All They Had to Do was Ask... Feb 03, 1993

Ray is shocked when he is told his ex-partner is being transferred into his department. Problem is she is female and rumours were rife that they were having an affair. Meanwhile a boy goes missing from party of schoolchildren on a museum tour.

EP17 Tell Me You Didn't Do It... I'll Go to the Wall for You Feb 10, 1993

Ellen is making her mark on the department, buying doughnuts, making coffee, and being paired with Bobby on a seemingly straightforward parolee disappearance. Until Bobby is framed.

EP18 What Do You Want, a Signed Confession? Feb 17, 1994

Bobby is still under investigation for a suspected bribe and perverting the course of justice. Also a little girl is snatched in a department store.
7.3| 0h30m| en| More Info
Released: 30 August 1993 Ended
Producted By: Stephen J. Cannell Productions
Country: United States of America
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website:
Synopsis

Missing Persons is a short-lived American crime drama television series, set in Chicago. It followed a fictitious missing persons unit; each episode usually following the investigation into three or more cases. It ran on ABC from August 30, 1993 to February 17, 1994. It was produced by Gary Sherman Productions in association with Stephen J. Cannell Productions, and often used local Chicago-based actors, as well as occasional big-name guest stars such as Nina Foch, Eddie Bracken and Lois Smith. Semi-regulars included Ian Gomez, Irma P. Hall, Laura Cerón and Valerie Harper. Unlike most series from Cannell's company, he did not create or co-create this series.

... View More
Stream Online

The movie is currently not available onine

Director

Producted By

Stephen J. Cannell Productions

Trailers & Images

Reviews

rossprag I don't disagree with the essential premise offered by the previous reviewer -- all cop shows vary from some mix of the realistic and the fantastic. C'mon, please: Lab techs who bust down doors with the badges? Decades-old cold cases where all the key suspects are still among us, living in Philadelphia? And these examples represent two of my favorite recent procedurals.That said, I skipped this one when it first played on ABC -- I was still riding high on Hill Street Blues, and I feared Daniel J. Travanti was slumming for a gig. Never heard of the supporting cast, and when Valeria Harper came on, I figured she'd given up the ghost, as well.Kind of glad I waited until Cannell's new omnibus DVD set came out with all 18 eps. Have watched four, and what I'm seeing so far is a fairly solid, reasonably low-key modular procedural -- the kind Ed McBain used to write with his 87th Precinct novels. It reminds me of another underestimated ABC short-timer, The Unusuals. Travanti brings his best boss sensibilities, along with some credible gray, to Lt. Ray -- the kind of guy who might have mentored Frank Furillo. Ray's short-fused impatience with incompetence and callousness is well-rationed, and his home life reminds me nostalgically of Barney Miller's.Jorja Fox (later CSI), Frederick Weller (later In Plain Sight), and Erik King (later Dexter) all make credibly dogged investigators, following trails far freer of melodrama and coincidence than Without a Trace. I enjoy spotting out the Chicago 'hoods and the city's various cultural enclaves as the tecs seek their prey. Unlike Trace, not every step is traced with the help of an ATM or mini-mart surveillance cam, and not every missing person is involved in some labyrinthine scheme or conspiracy.In terms of realism, I like at least the semblance of some genuine police procedure being applied to the proceedings. Stan the office phone jockey, surrounded by reverse phone directories and city maps, is another nice contribution to the ersatz-reality of the show.This one probably would never have caught on in the pre-Bruckheimer era. But if you like a cop show with some plausible human interaction (a la Glades, Memphis Beat), I'd recommend it as a pleasant diversion and a look at some young stars who'd someday make their way. It shows me Cannell still had some oomph between the classic Rockford Files and the latter-day punch of Wiseguy.
John T. Ryan Steven J. Cannell Productions presents "MISSING PERSONS" TV Series Createed by Peter Lance & Gary Sherman. With Daniel J. Travanti (Lt.Ray McAuliffe),Jorja Fox(Officer Connie Karadzic),Paty Lombard(Mrs.Barbara McAuliffe), Juan Ramirez(Carlos Marrone),Robert Swan(Dan Duck),Fred Weller('Soapy' Sadowski),Amy Carlson (Somebody or Other).Any time a producer wishes to make a Cop Series here are basically two routes to go. One can be all escapism, super fantasy all the way. In this type, there are no "sorta bad guys" and no "less than enthusiastic about their jobs" Coppers. The lead character usually lives just for his job. And regardless of how much the main character gets into trouble, makes waves or rocks the bureaucratic boat, he remains in the same position.The other type of story lone tries its best to be realistic. Any glamor is played down. The tedious monotony of a Criminal Investigation is very much a large part of mostly all of the installments.(The typical investigation depicted is the FOLLOW-UP, rather than the PRELIMINARY, mainly because most Cop Shows center on the "Big Heat", "The Man", you know, the DETECTIVES.) Very few of these shows have the Uniform Cops as their subject.As to the next case, one series called "MISSING PERSONS(1993-95), we can only say that it falls somewhere between the fantastic and the realistic.Our Series is set in my town, Chicago, you know the "City with Broad Shoulders, the Stacker of Wheat, Hog Butcher to the World", etc., etc.In actuality, all of these Carl Sandberg attributes are mostly poetic anachronisms in this "Modern World". There is a certain amount of these industries left, but not to any great degree as to make it a "Center" for any one of them.Chicago still has the Spectre of the Prohibition Era hanging over it, and it probably always will. This is unfortunate, and largely undeserved for most of our citizenry. Therre is also an unfair attitude out there concerning the C.P.D. To some, we are either the most crooked Coppers or the most "Police Brutality Prone." In reality, neither is true, these attitudes merely being a product of a prostituted press.* It would appear that this "MISSING PERSONS" started out as a legitimately sincere project. The crux of the show seemed to be an honest attempt to play down violent crime, gun play, car chases and any other "Bad-Ass", Bumper Morgan-Dirty Harry type activities.In contrast, the characters of "MISSING PERSONS" seem bent on making a point of their almost Pascifist behaviour. Detective Bobby Davison (Erik King) states that it was good to be bringing families back together, instead of breaking them up. This occurs during an exchange with a Detective from Homicide. This is a gruff, gravely voiced character who smirks at such an nonviolent activity as a Missing Person Investigation is below his contempt and dignity.As a definite 'Plus'(+)for the Series and Its Creative/Production Team is the excellent uses of Chicago locales. Chicago has been said to have a wide range of looks and appearances vary highly from one section of town to another. You may find the Architechture of the Schools will vary a great deal, also.** The best use of a shooting location has to be their choice for Missing Persons Bureau Headquarters. It is the old Brighton Park Police Station,3900 S. California Avenue, which from about 1962 to 1994 was Home to Area 3 Detectives, Youth and (until '73)Traffic Divisions. It is a very old building dating to the turn of 19th to 20th centuries. It is now used as a Satellite Facility by the Cook County Sheriff's Police.Again on the down side, this Missings series probably inadvertently does a dis-service to the public by creating th false impression that any Missing Persons Case gets far more individual attention than they really do, as they are handed out in bunches to the Investigating Officers, rather than one at a time, as is pictured.And even though they were given full cooperation of the Chicago Police Youth Section(Youth handles all missings in Chicago.), they still missed the boat a little when it comes to speaking Chicagoan. Case in point involves a latter episode which was introducing Valerie Harper as an Investigator returning to work after an extended Medical Absence, with an implication that there had been something between her and the Lieutennant. Well, in this installment, she brings the morning sweet rolls, priding herself in remembering what were the preferences of her co-workers. For one she announces "a Jelly Doughnut".BONG! BONG! ALARM sounding here!! In our provincial dialect, we Middle Americans would not call it a "Jelly Doughnut", but rather use the much more proper terminology of "Jelly Bismarck". A Technical Dialect Adviser was needed. (I was available) Once again, it seems that all of this is done by the Production team with good intentions. It would seem that the old sayings are proved here are: 1. "A Little Bit of Knowledge is a Dangerous Thing.", and 2. "The Road to Hell is Paved with Good Intentions!" NOTE: * 'Scuse me oh Noble Fourth Estate of the Land, but it's true. You've managed to neuter our country's Police Departments, just the same way that you are now doing it to Our Armed Forces! NOTE: ** Architechture varies greatly, neighborhood to neighborhood depending on when settled and who were the original Ethnics founding the community.